Thursday, 2 October 2014

I love autumn. The kaleidoscopic colours of the trees; the warm, earthy smell of rustling dry leaves; the excuse to cover my grown out, neglected, wiry barnet with a jauntily tilted beret. Well less "jauntily tilted", more "a bit skew wiff", due to having given one of the kids a horsey around the garden before we left for our walk to the shops.

Do you know what I hate about autumn? Having collected yet another virus/infection/bug and a flare up of seasonal eczema. Yes, I am both contagious and more unsightly than ever at this time of year.

So how do we best represent early October, in a culinary sense? By roasting a chicken with as many cold remedies as possible. Fortunately, it tastes pretty amazing too. (Note: Lemsip may not be included in this dish, but may complement it.)

Ingredients

Whole chicken (no giblets)Butter3 cloves garlicOrangeHerbs - sprig of rosemaryCarrotOnionSalt and pepper if you like

Stuff a couple of chunks of onion, a slice of onion and couple of halved garlic cloves, I like a wee sprig of rosemary too.

Rub skin with leftover mixture and a bit of rock/sea salt. Skip salt if making stock for a baby later.

Cover with tin foil, put in oven for recommended time on packaging - or 20 minutes per pound, plus 15 minutes.

Remove foil 20 minutes from end to crisp the skin up.

Leave to sit for a while, admire your handiwork, preferably witha large glass of wine.

Ignore that roasting tin, sure it'll come clean after a very long soak in the sink. Anyway, someone else will take care of that surely. Won't they? It'll be fine.

Serve the good bits, save the rest! Strip it after (poor wee chick, but don't worry it's not going to feel a thing) and save all edible meat in a Tupperware tub. You can use it in a pie or soup, or both.

Break up the carcass, put it in a big heavy bottomed pot with a roughly chopped carrot and an onion, maybe a sprig of a herb or something. Cover it in water. Boil, then simmer, lid on for 2 hours. Keep checking and top it up with water if it gets too low.

Lo and behold, you've made stock! Bugger off, Bisto! Get tae, Oxo cubes! You're now a proper cook, like your gran. Drain off liquid with a sieve, leave it to cool. It'll turn to jelly. Freeze some, use for baby cooking. And it's great for adding to soups, and pie fillings.

Well done! You may have spent this entire dinner in the kitchen - but you have achieved a roast chicken PLUS stock! Proud of you.

The Bairn

About Me

I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing here - mostly rabbiting on about stuff. And some recipes chucked in here and there. I AM NOT AN EXPERT IN THE FIELD OF BABY FOOD! I just enjoy cooking for The Bairn. I should also add that the NHS doesn't recommend weaning your baby before 6 months.